Section:GDN 1N PaGe:17 Edition Date:190724 Edition:01 Zone: Sent at 23/7/2019 18:26 cYanmaGentaYellowb
Wednesday 24 July 2019 The Guardian •
National^17
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© UNHCR/Mohammed HamoudNazia Parveen
North of England correspondent
A British academic who was kept in
solitary confi nement in the United
Arab Emirates for almost six months
after being accused of spying has
lodged a legal complaint with the UN
over his treatment.
Matt Hedges , a Durham University
PhD candidate, went to the UAE for
two weeks to research his thesis on the
Arab spring but was arrested at Dubai
airport and spent months in a window-
less state security offi ce , accused by
the UAE of spying for MI6 and forced
to record and sign a confession.
Hedges has alleged he was regularly
interrogated for up to 15 hours a day
and threatened with torture. He says
he was made to sleep on the fl oor and
not allowed to see daylight, and was
Press AssociationTwo pro-meat protesters have been
fi ned after eating unskinned, raw
squirrels at a food market.
Deonisy Khlebnikov, 22, and Gatis
Lagzdins, 29, ate the animals outside
a vegan stall in Soho, central London.
They were asked to stop by onlook-
ers, including the parent of an upset
child, but continued their protest at
the Soho vegan market in Rupert Street
on 30 March , the Crown Prosecution
Service said. They were found guilty
of disorderly behaviour likely to cause
harassment, alarm or distress at City of
London magistrates court on Monday.
Natalie Clines , a senior CPS pros-
ecutor, said: “ [They] claimed they
were against veganism and were rais-
ing awareness about the dangers of
not eating meat.
“Their pre meditated actions caused
signifi cant distress to members of the
public, including young children.”
Khlebnikov, from Westminster, was
fi ned £200 plus costs , and Lagzdins,
from Ealing, in west London, who did
not attend , was fi ned £400 plus costs.forced to take drugs such as Xanax. He
is now dependent on this medication.
“My nightmare did not end the day I
was released. I can’t describe the daily
bouts of anxiety, sleepless nights and
deep episodes of depression that have
resulted from my hell ,” he said.
“I was simply doing legitimate
academic research and now I have to
carry the weight of the torture that I
endured and of the false conviction
given to me. I want to have hope in
humanity – to know that justice can
be achieved – and to move on.
“No one, let alone an innocent
person, should have to go through
what I did, and I can only hope that
complaints like this make the UAEreconsider the human rights abuses
that have become a regular feature .”
In a letter to the UN high commis-
sioner for human rights, his lawyer,
Rodney Dixon QC , said Hedges’ treat-
ment breached his human rights and
that he was coerced into confessing.Dixon said: “The UN working group
on arbitrary detention has the power
to investigate Matthew’s arbitrary
detention, and make fi ndings about
the very serious violations of his most
basic rights. It should not be allowed to
stand and stain his reputation for life.
“The FCO [Foreign and Common-
wealth Offi ce] should be striving to
clear Matthew’s name, but are refus-
ing to get involved. We trust that the
UN will come to Matthew’s aid and
safeguard his human rights.”
Hedges was given a life sentence by
an Abu Dhabi court in a hearing that
lasted less than fi ve minutes, with no
lawyer present. After intervention by
the foreign secretary, Jeremy Hunt, he
was eventually pardoned.
Hedges also requests the UN to take
into account the alleged shortcomings
of the UK government and the consu-
lar assistance provided. He says the
Foreign Offi ce has failed to take any
steps to have his conviction quashed.
An FCO spokesperson said: “Foreign
Offi ce staff and ministers, including
the foreign secretary, worked incred-
ibly hard on Matthew’s case. We were- and are – delighted he was able to
return to the UK to be reunited with his
wife, Daniela, and his family .”
Last week a British football fan from
Wolverhampton, Ali Issa Ahmad , who
says he was detained and tortured
while on holiday in the UAE because
he wore a Qatar shirt, lodged a similar
complaint with the UN.
Academic
complains to
UN about
Dubai arrest
over ‘spying’
Two fi ned for eating
raw squirrel in
anti-vegan protest
▼ Matthew Hedges, who was doing
research on the Arab spring, says he
was kept in solitary confi nement for
six months PHOTOGRAPH: PAUL GROVER/REX‘I was simply doing
academic research
and now I have to
carry the weight of
the torture I endured’Matt Hedges
Durham University researcherРЕЛИЗ ПОДГОТОВИЛА ГРУППА "What's News" VK.COM/WSNWS